COPING WITH THE MODERN ENVIRONMENT: CHEMICAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AND IN-OFFICE TREATMENT
Lee and Rinkel originally devised the provocative/neutralizing dose for the diagnosis and treatment of food allergies. It still remained necessary to devise such a test for the inoffice diagnosis and treatment of the chemical-susceptibility problem. This test was a by-product of the alcoholism studies which I made, described in Chapter 10. In the course of those studies, a batch of pure, 100-proof synthetic ethyl alcohol was obtained, derived from a petrochemical, ethylene gas. This type of alcohol, although not approved for drinking, is found in various food products, such as lemon and orange extracts. It is not toxic per se.
When given to chemically susceptible individuals, however, it can provoke reactions similar to those they experienced from environmental chemical exposures. The synthetic alcohol was mixed in graded dilutions. Dilution no. 1 was 1:5 mixture of ethyl alcohol and a salt solution; no. 2 was in a proportion of 1:25 (that is, one-fifth as strong as no. 1); and so forth.
If a patient answered at least two questions positively on the Chemical Questionnaire he was tested with a few drops of dilution no. 2, either by injection intradermally or under the tongue. If he answered three to five questions positively, he was tested with dilution no. 3; greater degrees of susceptibility were treated with even weaker dilutions.
In this way, it was possible to test patients for this perplexing chemical-susceptibility problem in the office and to receive fairly reliable results quickly. Before that, a patient had to move out of his house for a while to get such an answer, whereas today the best tests are performed in the hospital. I published, preliminarily, the results of this test in 1964.4
Using this same synthetic ethyl alcohol as a neutralizing dose, it was possible to relieve the symptoms of some patients for a long period of time. The technique was used especially on those who could not avoid chemical exposure, either because of their jobs, the location of their homes, or for other reasons.
One patient, for example, was a domestic maid who had to travel more than five miles by bus every day, five times a week. Each day she would get a headache on the bus, often before she had even reached her destination. She was provided with a small bottle of ethyl alcohol, at the dilution which had previously been found to suit her. By taking a drop of the solution under her tongue, she was able to relieve her headaches.
Another woman lived on the edge of a golf course. Because of continual pesticide spraying, she was chronically ill. After learning to use a neutralizing dose of the synthetic ethyl alcohol, however, she was not only able to tolerate life in her home, but was even able to play golf on the course without suffering any health problems. Because both ethyl alcohol and the pesticides are ultimately derived from the same substances—petrochemicals—a neutralizing dose made of one substance can have an effect in relieving symptoms caused by another such substance.
This is not meant to imply that such drops are a kind of cure-all for the chemical-susceptibility problem. Unfortunately, they are not. Such treatments are not fully protective, because a person’s intake of chemicals varies greatly with time and place.
In addition to synthetic ethyl alcohol, various other chemical extracts now aid in the treatment of chemically susceptible patients. One of the most ingenious is an extract of automobile fumes which Dr. Harris Hosen of Port Arthur, Texas, prepared for the use of clinical ecologists.5 This is sometimes quite effective in detecting and relieving the effects of smog and the fumes of heavy traffic on susceptible patients.
Basically, however, the most effective «treatment» devised for the chemically susceptible patient is still prevention.
It should be reemphasized that patients with advanced environmentally related illness involving food and chemicals are also often sensitive to pollens, molds, dusts, animal danders, insect emanations, and other inhaled particles. Indeed, the course of environmentally related events often starts with localized allergic manifestations on such a basis. But, as Dr. Mandell has emphasized, pollens, molds, etc., may also be related causally to advanced systemic or generalized effects.6 Since skin testing with extracts of these materials is relatively reliable, this possibility should be evaluated by measuring the degree of skin sensitivity as a basis for providing optimal injection therapy.
*94\110\2*
MOUTH DRYNESS
Aging, Sjogren’s Disease (an illness involving dry mouth, dry eyes, and painful joints), certain medications, and radiation treatment over the salivary glands — all result in excessive dryness of the mouth. The mouth-drying effect of certain medicines, understandably, is temporary, but dryness of the mouth due to all of the other causes listed above is permanent. Dryness of the mouth is medically known as xerostomia.
Ordinarily just a nuisance, dryness of the mouth can become dangerous if one has angina pectoris (pain in the chest due to heart disease) and relies upon a tablet of nitroglycerin put under the tongue, where it should quickly dissolve and be absorbed for relief. Also, according to Geriatrics (38#5:16), dryness of the mouth can result in tooth decay if left untreated.
The remedy, of course, is to moisten the mouth by drinking frequently or, better still, by using one of the salivary substitute products, such as Salivart or Xero-Lube, which provide not only water but also certain elements normally present in saliva. Salivary substitute spray products that can be carried in the pocket or in the handbag are now available in most drug stores without prescription.
Now, a correspondent to the New England Journal of Medicine (310:1122) suggests, relief from drug-induced mouth dryness can be even more easily obtained by swallowing tablets of another medication called Bethanechol, which stimulates the salivary flow. A doctor’s prescription is needed for these pills.
*172\143\2*
GUMBOILS IN CHILDREN: SYMPTOMS, HOME CARE, PRECAUTIONS AND TREATMENT
Signs and symptoms
Gumboils can be recognized by their typical appearance. Inflammation or swelling that comes to a point, like a tender pimple, appears where the lip meets the gum at the base of a decayed tooth. The area is sometimes painful. Eventually, the gumboil discharges yellow pus. Usually the associated tooth is obviously injured (fractured or discolored) or has an untreated or recently filled cavity. The tooth may be tender when tapped or may be slightly loose. A gumboil is not usually accompanied by fever.
A gumboil may be confused with a canker sore. However, a canker sore is ulcerated (dug out); it does not protrude like a gumboil.
Home care
Give aspirin or paracetamol for pain. Warm soaks or warm salt water rinses will help the inflammation and promote drainage of the boil. (Use one-half teaspoon of table salt in one-half glass of warm water.) If the associated tooth is about to fall out naturally, a gumboil can be left untreated. The loss of the tooth will allow the pus to drain and the gumboil to heal.
• If a young child has a gumboil, consult the dentist.
• Some dentists feel that a gumboil on a baby tooth endangers the permanent tooth that has not yet emerged.
• Premature loss of first-year or second-year molars (or permanent six-year molars) can cause later problems in spacing and positioning of the permanent teeth.
Medical treatment
Your dentist will decide whether to leave the tooth in, pull it, replace it with a space retainer, or save the tooth by performing root-canal work. It’s seldom necessary to give the child antibiotics, or to open and drain the gumboil.
*89/84/5*
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